Wepster, J.P.

Capt. J.P. Wepster Sr.

Capt. Jan. Pieter. Wepster (1886-1942)

Born on the 10th. of July 1886 in the Dutch town of Stellendam. Before he joined the HAL, he sailed for the Kon. Neth. West Indies Mail Dienst. ( Royal Dutch West Indies Mail service to the Colonies in the Caribbean)

He obtained his 3rd mates (3rd officer) certificate on 04 Nov. 1905 and his 2nd Mates on 29 July 1908. He joined Holland America Line on 09 July 1909 in the ss Sommelsdijk (I)

Short Biography:

On 01 Dec. 1910 he joined the Royal Dutch Nay as an ensign and is placed on board HMS Atjeh. He had been promoted to 2nd officer on 9 july 1907 while still sailing for the KNIM. Passed his exam for 1st mate (Dutch captains license) on 29 Nov. 1911 and he HAL promotes him to Chief Officer on 07 Feb. 1913.

On 09 August 1914 he is temporary dismissed from HAL for Military service. As the threat of Imperial Germany invading Holland faded, he returned to HAL. On 29 Oct. 1916 he is honored for saving the crew of the Vigilant in bad weather while he was chief Officer of the ss Rijndam (I).

The small Gold medal as issued for rescues at sea

He received the “Presidential Binoculars” from the USA and the -small – Golden Medal of the Dutch South Holland Lifesaving Society.

Promotion to Captain follows on 16 July 1921 on the ss Zijldijk. He serves for 21 years as a Master retiring from the ss Nieuw Amsterdam in 1942. Because he joined in 1909 and was phased in sideways, he could not retire with the rank of commodore as he was not the most senior in HAL – years in the company. His only time on the flagship Nieuw Amsterdam was a bridging period between the old commodore retiring ( Capt. Bijl) and the new commodore coming. (Capt. Barendse)

He came from the ss Volendam, which he had commanded since 1938. The most wellknown exploit of the ship was the planned transfer of 320 childeren from war torn England to Canada. On board were 879 souls of which 273 crew, 320 children and their parents and guardians and 286 other passengers. The ship being the largest in the convoy (OB-205) had the convoy commodore Admiral G.H. Knowles on board. She sailed from Liverpool.

Around midnight 31 Aug. 1940 the ship was hit by a torpedo of the U-60 under command of Oberleutnant Adalbert Schnee about 200 miles West of Bloody Foreland NW. of Ireland. (56°04′ N. en 09°52′ W.) A large hole was torn in hold nbr 1. and hold 1 & 2 started to fill. It was decided to evacuate the ship which was accomplished under great discipline. It help that the weather was very good and the sea calm. All on board where picked up by the three ships, the freighter ss Bassethound, the tanker ss Valldemosa and the Norwegian freighter Olaf Fostenes. All were brought to safety. One crewmember, the purser Mr.Baron, perished as he lost his footing while climbing the ladder into the lifeboat.

For his work on the Volendam he received the Dutch Cross of Honor with clasp (later replaced by the Bronze Lion). He also was an Officer in Order of Orange Nassau which is the highest ranking a civilian can receive who is not a civil servant. The British Government gave the same recognition in the form of being an Honorary Officer in the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE).

From the Nieuw Amsterdam he transfered to the ms Zaandam to sail home as an civilian. The Zaamdam (Capt. Stamperius) was first engaged in refugee transports on behalf of the Dutch Government from the Dutch East Indies to Australia. Then she came under control of the Allied Command. The ms Zaandam departed from Capetown in November 1942 where Capt. Wepster had boarded. While the ship was on it’s way to New York it was torpedoed on 2 November 1942 near Recife off the Brazilian coast by the German submarine U 174. of the 310 people on board 135 perished including Capt. Stamperius and Capt. Wepster.

Other Decorations:

30 January 1929 awarded the Silver Medal for meteorological Observations from the Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute.

I do not know yet much about the family. There were at least two sons. One also went to sea with Holland America and another son, Ben, who emigrated to Canada in 1930’s.

Do I have your permission to put it on my blog ? with full credits ofcourse. Also do you happen to have a photo of Captain Wepster, as I have not been able to find one yet. If so, could you send a scan to CaptAlbert1@aol.com ? I am still tracing the various ships and captains and almost at the 2nd world war in 1942. As soon as I can all his voyages and ships will go on the blog as well.